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Fierce clashes in Mosul leave many dead

At least 14 Iraqis have been killed and 52 wounded in a roadside bomb blast and fierce clashes between Iraqi police and armed fighters in the main northern city of Mosul, according to Aljazeera's correspondent.

05 Aug 2004 09:28 GMT

Two of the dead were victims of a roadside bomb attack

"The hospital received 12 bodies, including two women, and 26 injured, most of them civilians," said a doctor at Mosul's Medical City hospital, after violent clashes broke out between the fighters and police on Wednesday.

Two of the fatalities occurred when a roadside device exploded on Baghdad Street just as a US military convoy passed by.

Aljazeera's correspondent reported that explosions were being heard in al-Najjar and al-Ghazlani neighbourhoods of Iraq's third largest city.

He said the death toll was later revised to 14 fatalities and 52 wounded.

The Reuters correspondent in Mosul quoted witnesses as saying Iraqi police and armed fighters were fighting with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) on the streets.

Area sealed off

The Reuters correspondent said one firefight began at about 12.45

pm (0845 GMT) in the Sinjar neighbourhood to the southwest of

Mosul.

Many of the civilian fatalities arefrom blasts aimed at US soldiers

Other battles were raging to the

north, in the centre and to the south of the city, he said.

"I can hear gunfire and RPGs in the Yarmuk area to the

northwest, in the city centre and in al-Razlani to the south," he said.

It was not immediately clear if there were any dead or

wounded from the clashes.

He said the police had tried to seal off the Sinjar area and

were battling the fighters street-to-street near the highway.

US troops were not believed to be involved in the clashes.

"The bomb went off at 10.35am in the Mamun neighbourhood, killinga man and a woman and woundingtwo people"

Capt Hamad Hasan Abd Allah,Iraqi police

The crack of small arms and assault rifles could be heard in

the background, and at least two loud blasts sounded, possibly

the noise of RPGs striking their target.

Mosul has seen frequent outbreaks of violence over the past

year, most recently a car-bomb attack outside a police station

in the city centre last week which killed five people.

There have also been regular attacks on occupation troops

stationed in and near the city, and occasional drive-by

shootings in which Iraqi officials and US soldiers at

checkpoints have been targeted.

Blast victims

Referring to the roadside blast in which two Iraqis died in central Mosul, Iraqi police Captain Hamad Hasan Abd Allah said: "The bomb went off at 10.35am (0635 GMT) in the Mamun neighbourhood, killing a man and a woman and wounding two people."